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Chapter 27 Notes (America in Midcentury)
Dynamic Conservatism #*Eisenhower represented a good American picture after World War 2. #*Allowed people in his cabinet or government to do their own thing. #*He staffed his cabinet on heavy business principles, getting corporate executives. #*Promoted development of private, corporate owned Hydroelectric and nuclear power. Persuades to bring government owned "tidelands" back to private business. #*Followed dynamic conservatism along with modern republicanism. #**Wished to reduce taxes, stop inflation, maintain fundamentals of the new deals. #Downfall of Joseph McCarthy #*Eisenhower regards McCarthy as scum, ignores him. #*McCarthy accuses army for having spies. → Backfires Big time. #*Public watches McCarthy on a Senate Investigation, his raspy voice, bad picture and disregard for others repelled hundreds of people. His popularity plummeted. #*McCarthy dies of alcoholism. Still left fear of commies. #Jim Crow in Court #*Earl Warren, new chief justice, took conservative wrath from people defending rights of people accused of subversive beliefs. #**Jencks v. United States - persons of accused have the right to inspect gov't files #**Yates v. United States justices overturn the convictions of Communist Party officials under smith act. #***Yates ends further prosecution of communists. Right wing opponents felt court had to much power → "Impeach Earl Warren" #*Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka - called for greater equality in the "separate but equal" façade #*Turn over Plessy v. Ferguson case of education separation. #*South hates the Brown decision. #**KKK has a revival #**100+ members of Congress signed the Southern Manifesto , denouncing the Brown decision and as a abuse of judicial power. #The Laws of the Land #*Southern resistance reaches climax. #**National Guard mobilized to bar the students from entering. #**Eisenhower feared the soviets were laughing over the incident. #***His fear makes him utilize the Arkansas National Guard to protect black rights. #**TV popularity aided immensely in the civil-rights cause. #**Northern whites favored legislation to enfranchise blacks. #**Eisenhower proposes voting rights bill, barely worked to enforce their votes, but seen as landmark. #Ike and Dulles #*Eisenhower had to shut up the right-wing, chooses secretary of state, John Foster Dulles. #**A very stern man who had rigid beliefs. Was extremely outspoken against communism and was aggressive in his demands. #***Pleases right wing, but Eisenhower fears nuclear war with USSR. #**Eisenhower works to lower probability of nuclear Armageddon. "Atoms for peace" plan #**Start of construction of commercial nuclear plants, but most money directed for these projects was used in military research. E.g; nuclear powered submarines or air craft carriers. #*Eisenhower and Soviet leaders meet in Geneva. #**Discuss of peaceful coexistence, neither country can agree on a weapon plan but Russia suspends further atmospheric test of weapons. #*Dulles makes many defense pacts with countries to oppose communism. #*1959, Alaska and Hawaii become states. Diversity of these states was seen as a benefit to the US to gain support against communism. #CIA Covert Actions #*CIA leader, Allen Dulles. #*CIA becomes involved to topple regimes that are pro-communist. (assassinations, political coups, war supplies) #*CIA supports intellectuals and anti-communist propaganda. #*1953, CIA organizes coup to overthrow the Government of Iran. Iranian prime minister nationalized oil fields, open to the soviets, CIA fears this. CIA replace prime minister with Shah Reza Pahvali. #**US companies prosper with the cheap oil. #*1953, CIA intervened in Philippine elections to ensure a pro-American government. #*1954, CIA trains a band of mercenaries that overthrows government in Guatemala, because they had nationalized and redistributed tracts of land owned by the United Fruit Company. US gets land back. #The Vietnam Domino #*Extensive CIA covert operations in Indochina. #**Korean war makes US believe Indochina is key to combating china. #**Truman administration had provided France with LARGE military assistance in fighting against Ho Chi Minh. #***Vietminh besieged French troops in the N. valley of Dienbienphu. #*French surrender → International conference in Geneva arranges cease-fire and split of Vietnam along the 17th parallel. #*Eisenhower could not swallow the victory of communist in Vietnam. "Domino Theory" Believed that other countries around such as Thailand and Burma would become communist. #*US refuses to sign Geneva Peace Accords, creates SEATO military alliance similar to NATO. #*Ngo Dinh Diem catholic puppet premier used to be president of South Vietnam. #**CIA help train his army, eliminate political opposition, block elections to reunify Vietnam. #**Premier alienates primarily Buddhist population #*National Liberation Front, supported by N. Vietnam, was gaining control. #Troubles in the Third World #*Suez Crisis #**Gamal Abdel Nasser in power of Egypt, wants to modernize his nation. #**US is like, oh, how about you come to our side. We'll build a damn for you with a loan. #***Instead Nasser buys weapons from Czech and recognizes China as a country. Dulles is like WTF and cancels the loan. #**Nasser nationalizes Suez Canal. #***Britain wants Canal BACK. They fear Arab nationalism. #***Iran, Britain, France attack Egypt in 1956. Russia threatens to intervene, Eisenhower freaks and demands his allies withdraw from Egypt. #*Consequences #**US is now seen as protector of world. #**Eisenhower Doctrine of 1957, states the US will send military aid to any middle eastern nation threatened by communist aggression. #***Demonstrates his seriousness by sending troops into Lebanon to stop Muslim revolt. #**Third world hate of American grows. Angry people in Peru and Venezuela. #**Fidel Castro overthrows regime in Cuba and confiscates American properties. #*U2 Spy Plane #**Shot down in May in 1960 deep within Soviet borders. Was taking pictures of soviet ballistic missile sites. #The Eisenhower Legacy #*Eisenhower warns about the constant need of national security before leaving office. #*Heavily believed in the "military-industrial complex" #*Claims he avoided war, but peace is not in sight. #The New Industrial Society #*Federal spending doubled in 1950s. Built roads, airports, supported mortgages and farms. Half of federal budget went to defense spending #*Lead aircraft laboratories sought major military contracts from companies like Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Boeing. #*Science and pushing forward in tech became the major criteria for American advanced education. #*First nuclear power plant in Shippingport, PA launched in 1954. #*Electronics becomes huge in American industry. Energy consumption triples. #*Oil replaces coal as the nation's main energy source. #Age of Computers #*IBM with Harvard scientists creates the Mark 1 calculator to decipher Axis codes. #**ENIAC military computer #*Bell Labs #**Create solid state transistors. #*Computers changed American economy like steam engines did in the railroad revolution. Manufactures use them to monitor production lines, track inventory. #*Silicon Valley created by Stanford Industrial park in 1951 in CA. #The Cost of Bigness #*Power of big businesses grew immensely. Companies would swallow up weak competitors. #*3 TV's monopolized nation's airwaves, 3 automobile manufactures and three aluminum producers controlled the markets. #*Large corporation branching in new entrepreneurships. Going overseas forming multinational enterprises. #*Farming grows more scientific and mechanized. #**Public unawareness of pesticides and their dangers. Rachel Carson's Silent Spring exposed the problem to public. Government bans many insecticides, DDT's. #*Army Engineer Corps dam water of the Columbia and Missouri river, really mess stuff up. #Blue-Collar Blues #*Labor union AFL and CIO join together. #*Decrease in blue-collar workers further weakened labor militancy. #*Jobs in public employment banned collective bargaining. #Prosperity and the Suburbs #*Americans spend more money on luxuries, borrowed money when they needed it. #*First credit card 1950, American Express. #*Installment buying, home mortgages and auto loans created huge American indebtedness. #**Public idea of buying new cars constantly, luxury of speed. #*Federal spending on highways goes insanely high., creation of highway standards. #*Neighborhood look-a-likes. All houses need to be alike. #*South and West appealed to older American's due to low taxes and less "activity". #Togetherness and the Baby Boom #*Americans wed at an early age, and had more sex which created more babies. #*Medical Advances #**New antibiotics combated diphtheria, and the whooping cough. #**Salk and Sabin vaccines cured polio. #*Dr. Benjamin Spock wrote Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care. The standard textbook about how to care for a baby. It was the 2nd most popular book ever in the world… against the bible. #Domesticity #*Woman glorified as the "man servant", or ideal wife. #*Articles in magazines were stuff like "Poetry of cooking" #*Housekeeping Monthly "The Good Wife's Guide" #**Comfort your man #**Don't complain if he was gone #**Don't ask him questions about his acts #**A good wife always knows her place #*Public education reinforced these notions, girls taught typing and cooking. Guidance counselors advocated instead to get married rather then pursue higher education. #*More women enter the workforce, slowly growing. Paid less than half of a man however. #Religion and Education #*Cold War fears emphasized a "We're all religious" spirit against communism. #*Popular religious individuals had common media methods like radio, newspaper columns, books and TV programs. One such person was Billy Graham. #**His religious salvation and aggressive anti-communism created a pivotal public picture. #*Congress adds "under god" in the pledge. #*In god we trust on all currency. #*Church attendance grew immensely. #*New catholic pope created world appeal. #The Culture of the Fifties #*American expenses grew, notably on entertainment. #*Large sight seeing and nature walking rise. #*Art and culture boom in NY, supersedes Paris. #*New novels featured plots of dissatisfied people who seek greater, authentic existence. #*Black and Jewish literature also found a place. #*Career women replace by "dumb blondes", Movie attendance drops as TV viewing soars. Hollywood tries to recap this loss but fails. #The Television Culture #*TV ownership was iconic. 9 out of 10 households had a TV by 1960. #*Three main radio networks #**ABC #**CBS #**NBC #*TV profit of ads. #*The TV Guide was the MOST popular periodical during the time. #*TV Dinners change nations eating habits. #**Ad awards such as like caps in boxes or mystery challenges that appealed to youths. #*The head of the FCC dared broadcasters to watch their own shows for a day, claiming endless garbage was on the air. #**Coined the term "idiot box" or die Glotze auf Deutsch. #*Interpretation of TV shows varied and was difficult to address for a perfect audience, almost a fad in society. #**Created interest in Barbie Dolls and hula-hoops. #**Created the name brand conscious " Always Trust the brand blah blah" #*TV killed the radio network. Radios return back to the top music programs. #Poverty and Urban Blight #*Senior citizens had debt trouble #*Very severe poverty. #*California Imperial Valley had an unheard of infant death rate, times the average. #*Mexican and Latinos come. #*Michael Harrington The other America: Poverty in the United States explained how people were locked into the addicted system of wants and then could not afford basic necessities. #*The Housing Act barely helped the situation. #Blacks' Struggle for Justice #*African Americans turned to new tactics to fight for civil rights. #**Nonviolent direct protests to engage blacks to fight for their own freedom. #*Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus (blacks had to always give their seats to whites) #**Arrested. Massive boycott on bus companies. Create the MIA and elect Martin Luther King, Jr. to lead it. #*Martin Luther King Jr. is an amazing spokesman who represented their difficulties, he stirred encouragement into the souls of blacks. #*City leaders would not give, blacks challenged the segregation laws constitutionally. #**Supreme court affirmed outlawing segregation on the buses. #*Blacks are united against segregation instead of a "one man army", it was everyone. #**King preached that blacks must lay their bodies on the line to provoke crises that would force whites to confront their racism. #Latinos and Latinas #*Made no headway in ending discrimination. #*Direct air service appealed to Puerto Ricans who as US citizens could enter the mainland with no restrictions. #*Suffered harassment from police, denied jobs. More than half lived in bad housing. #*Latinos hoped to earn money in America and then return , but most stayed. Could not fit into the American dream. #*Congress reinstates the bracero program to bring farmers in a more logical way to work on farms (TL;DR Use Mexicans or Latinas to farm) Most stayed illegally in the US. #*Eisenhower Operation "Wetback" , deports 3 million undocumented entrants. But Mexicans would just cross the border and come back. #*Mexican population in LA doubled, and other border cities near Mexico had a constantly growing Mexican population. #*Win segregation case in Supreme Court during late 1940s. #Native Americans #*Poorest minority of all. #*Government goal of assimilation of Indians. #**Terminates tons of bills and support during the 1950s. → Disastrous result #*Voluntary Relocation Program created to help assist Indians with finding jobs and relocating. #Sputnik #*In 1957, Russia launches first satellite ever. #*When Sputnik II launches, the super dumb and hypocritical democrats claim Eisenhower allowed a "technological Pearl Harbor". #*America tries to hurry to build missile to launch satellite. Takes off with millions watching on TV and explodes. Epic Fail. → Eisenhower unphazed, doubles funding. #**Eisenhower creates SAC, and NASA. #A Different Beat #*Busy fathers ignored their children. Rise of juvenile delinquency abounded-- the common troublemaker. #*Time published "Teenagers on the Rampage"...but was rather overplayed. #**Senate concluded that teenage crime barely increased and was just stoked on fears. #*Embracing of Rock 'n Roll. Parents linked the music with childhood delinquency. #*Elvis Presley, a truck driver paid 4 dollars to record 2 songs at Memphis Studio. Instant hit. "Hound Dog" and "All Shook Up". Teenagers loved it as adults condemned it. #Portents of Change #*Teens cherished rock and roll. #*The Wild One, by Marlon Brando and Rebel Without a Cause caught cult status for rejecting society's "standards". Reject the rules. #*Nonconformist writers known as the Beats expressed a more fundamental revolt against common society. #**Allen Ginsberg's Howl #**Jack Kerouac's On the Road #*The Beats scorned conformity, religion, family values and materialism. The square America is just where everyone else wanted to be, and that’s what these authors emphasized as banal. #**Media scorns the beats #*Gave a sort of leeway to the Hippie Movement later. Many who were influenced by the Beats were college students who would later go on to denounce issues such as capitol punishment, nuclear arms -- even advocating for black civil rights.